The room fell quiet once again.


    Especially thatst line "fooled by your own arrogance"-Dan had said it with a pointed sharpness, and Derek couldn''t help but wonder what he was really getting


    at.


    Dan was gone.


    Now it was just Finch and Derek left. Derek, fuming, downed a full ss of water,


    but it did absolutely nothing to cool the anger burning in his chest.


    Finch muttered, "He''s getting more and more out of line with you, Dad."


    And what was up with thatst thing Dan said? That whole bit about "fooling himself" it felt like all their scheming had been for nothing.


    Derek lit a cigar, his voice gruff. "When has he ever been in line with me?" The words came out more bitter than he''d intended.


    Finch fell silent.


    He had to admit, as much as he hated to, Dan had never really yed by the rules-not once.


    Dan headed downstairs.


    He ran right into Ivanna on the way down. "Hey, big bro," she greeted.


    Though Ivanna had her issues with Dan-especially his constant shes with


    their mother-she kept her tone respectful on the surface.


    She was sharp, and Dan''s recent sesses made her unsure who''de out on top in the end-Dan, or her own brother''s side.


    Dan didn''t even look at her, just brushed past and kept walking.


    Ivanna watched him go, rolling her eyes. Seriously, what''s he got to be so cocky about? All the crap at ck Gate right now-wasn''t it him who started it?


    Momentster, she stormed into the study.


    "Dad, this is outrageous! Are we just supposed to sit here and take it?"


    She was seething. Just thinking about the phone call she''d gotten that morning made her blood boil.


    Finch sighed. "This is all because of Dan. He''s the one who pissed off the Quinn family''s eldest daughter."


    "What?"


    Wait, what? Wasn''t all this because of that bastard Lacey''s kid?


    At this point, the whole ck Gate crew was utterly lost.


    ...


    Dan got in his car.


    He dialed Yvonne-she''d been relentlessly hounding ck Gate for Susanna, so she''d taken him off her blocked list.


    The second she picked up, Dan growled, "Yvonne, I don''t care if you believe me or not, but Susanna isn''t at ck Gate."


    "You''re wasting all your time and


    muscle going after ck Gate. Why don''t you actually look for her somewhere else? If you mess around and she ends up dead don''t you daree ming us!


    Every word was spit out with frustration.


    Right now, Dan wished he could rip his own heart out and shove it in Yvonne''s


    face, just to prove he wasn''t lying.


    But Yvonne, oddly enough, wasn''t


    losing her cool like she usually did. Normally she''d be screaming at him. to hand over Susanna.


    Not today. She sounded almost calm. "You don''t need to tell me this."


    "What''s that supposed to mean?"


    Yvonne replied, "Take it up with Hull. Or my brother Ronald."


    Dan blinked. "Come again?"


    Talk to Hull? Or Ronald?


    What did that even mean? Yvonne was the one alwaysing after him, always losing her mind over it.


    And now she was telling him to talk to Hull and Ronald?


    Yvonne just said, "It means this isn''t my problem anymore."


    Dan was left speechless.


    Not her problem anymore?


    He thought his head had nearly


    exploded after dealing with Dereket


    and Finch, but now-after talking to Yvonne he was feltpletel stunned